Samsara
by Nightspade
Summary: Just what do you do when you're immortal, anyway? LelouchXC.C. Fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Code Geass, CLAMP, Sunrise, or any affiliated companies. This was rewritten purely for the enjoyment of the reader. No profits were earned from this. My wallet weeps at this.

Author's Note: Just to get a few details about the setting out of the way, this takes place after the season finale. For those of you unfamiliar with the theory of Lelouch surviving here's the jist of it. Lelouch got his Father's Code during that time that they made contact (Charles tried to choke him within his last moments) and thus was able to escape execution at Suzaku's hands by 'dying' and then escaping (presumably while everyone was stone cold wasted celebrating his death at the morgue.) Anyway, the theory goes that Lelouch is the hay cart driver in the final scene of the series and that he's spending his immortal days with C.C. By the way, is anyone else irked that we never did learn her real name in canon?

Summary: C.C. reads the obituaries every day, just like she reads the rest of the paper. Lelouch doesn't care to know why. But he does care.

* * *

Former 99th emperor of the former Holy Britannian Empire, Lelouch Vi Britannia sat at the kitchen table in his humble cottage residence eating a most humble breakfast. Two slices of buttered toast with some scrambled eggs. It was early morning and neither he, nor his accomplice whom sat on the opposite end of the small table, wanted to make any effort for a 'decent' breakfast, though Lelouch was content with his toast and eggs.

His aforementioned partner, C.C., was reading the morning paper with a contemptuous look across her features. Lelouch smiled to himself at her childish attitude. She had kept that same look for as many months as they had resided at their current residence. He believed she was simply playing a part now, as she had had more then enough time to adjust to the change in scenery. He remembered the conversation when they arrived vividly.

"_Lelouch, why do we have to live here?" C.C. asked unhappily._

"_You know better then I why. Now stop throwing a tantrum." C.C. glared in response. They'd been living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle ever since his 'execution', if you could call being run through with a sword out of no where by your best friend disguised as your own alter-ego an execution. C.C. rolled her eyes toward him when the glare proved ineffective. Disguising themselves in public wasn't much of a challenge. C.C. was unknown to the general public during and after his reign and all Lelouch needed was a haircut and some color-change contacts. Maybe a beard every once in a while. _

_The difficult part of their lifestyle was one of the things that bound them together: Their immortality. They simply didn't age, and therefore couldn't stay at one place for too long. Sometimes they'd live in one location for a decade or a little longer, other times they'd leave the second someone complimented C.C. with 'how do you stay looking so young?'_

"_I know why we have to move, but why do we have to live here?" C.C. asked again, tired of her partner's attitude. "This village is so isolated, the nearest restaurant that even makes pizza is 45 miles away!"_

"_Yes! The location of this place makes it a perfect hiding- wait, again with pizza? Do you have any idea how many times you've endangered us both because of your little addiction?" Lelouch asked half serious, half teasing._

"_It's pointless to count how many times I did, as the number of times that I will continue to do so will always dwarf the number of times that I have." She responded matter-of-factly. If Lelouch hadn't been spending nearly every waking moment with her for the past few decades (or was it centuries now?) that they'd been together, he'd be sure that she had rehearsed those lines._

"_Yes, I suppose it would be pointless to count them. Look, when it's your turn to pick where we live you can move us into the back of a pizza restaurant for all I care."_

"_You shouldn't say things like that. I just might one day."_

C.C. looked up from here paper and scowled at Lelouch's near laughing face. "What do you find so amusing?"

"Oh, nothing really." Lelouch replied as he took a sip of his morning tea. "Are you almost done with the paper?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Do you remember Timothy Andrews?" C.C. asked while trying to sound disinterested in the conversation.

"How could I forget him? The farmer that had Ougi's heart and Tamaki's mannerisms. We never did find out if he was related some way to those two." Lelouch said with a smile. Realization dawned upon him and he took a more solemn expression. "What happened to him?"

"Why so pessimistic? Just because I brought him up out of the blue doesn't mean something bad."

"It's been 50 years C.C."

"I thought you weren't counting." She commented as if now trying to avoid the subject. "It was a machinery malfunction according to the paper. Apparently he had a wife and three children in between the time we knew him and now."

"Ah… what was the girl's name again? Melissa? Monica? I remember he was head over heels with his mentor's daughter." The recollection made Lelouch smile.

"It was Melissa. And if I recall she shared the feelings. Such a shame for him to die so young." There was a touch of sadness and almost guilt in C.C.'s voice as she remembered their mutual friend.

"I remember a time when 85 wasn't considered young."

"I remember a time when someone in their 30's was considered to be in the last stages of their life."

"It's amazing. The advances in medicine, I mean." Lelouch reflected amazedly. Such a strange conversation this would have seemed to himself back then, before he 'died.' Such a strange _life _this would seem.

C.C. chuckled warmly. "It's amazing. Since people can no longer acquire glory on a battlefield they've refocused to the medical and science fields. People are too busy fighting germs and discovering new ways to travel to fight each other. Remember when it was the other way around?"

Suddenly, Lelouch's tea tasted very bitter in his mouth. "Yes, I remember." He said with some finality, trying to end the conversation.

"Thinking of Nunnally?"

"I don't think I ever stopped thinking of her."

"You cared deeply for her. I did, too. She was so… honest, and gentle. And genuine. The world lost something when she died. But she lived a full life." C.C. giggled a little to herself. "And a quite happy one, too. If the rumors about her and Zero were ever true."

Lelouch shot her a dangerous glare. He knew it to be more then the truth that C.C. loved Nunnally. They had shared their memories so often by now that it became hard to tell who's experiences were who's during the time that their knew each other. He still didn't approve of the conversation. And C.C. knew when to draw the line.

"You'll keep feeling this way, you know." C.C. informed him. Lelouch braced himself for this lecture, the same one he had received every time he thought fondly of the past. Of course, now he wondered who C.C. was talking to. Was she trying to give him some helpful wisdom? Or was she trying to remind herself? "Those that we love and care about… they die, Lelouch. Medicine can advance as far as it wants to. War can stop and peace can reign until judgment day. But in the end… time takes everyone that means something to us."

"Except for you." He looked into her eyes as he said it.

"Except for you." She repeated.

He began with her name, as only he knew how to say it, when he asked her "… do you ever not think about them?"

"Yes. It's not easy, it's not supposed to be. When you know someone for so long… it's almost as if they become a part of you. It's hard to adjust when they… go." C.C. stared off into space after that.

They remained in solemn silence for several minutes. The small field that they tended to behind the house would soon need their care and attention. Neither of them thought of it in the moments that passed however. The silence was broken by Lelouch's suppressed chuckle. "You silly girl."

"Oh?"

"I told you before. I will remain by your side in all things. Always. And I will be your partner until this world falls to an end."

"Thanks to you, Mr. Matyr, it looks like that's not going to happen anytime soon."

"You never know. All this medicine could breed a super-bug that will wipe out all of humanity. Or a meteor could strike the earth."

"Lelouch." She cut him off, serious this time. "You once said that if I were a witch, you would become a warlock."

"Yes, I did. And I became one."

"Don't interrupt. Now, I ask you… what if… I wanted to become someone's wife?"

"Then I suppose I would have to no choice but to become your husband." Lelouch responded with a smirk. "We're practically married anyway. Why do you want to make it official now?"

"Are you making fun of me? You may have to wait a few decades if you want to get intimate with me again."

"I'm so sorry, I was out of line before." Lelouch responded with mock alarm. "But, why do you want to get married now?"

"Why don't you?"

"Who said I didn't?"

"Good. I'll call the local church later today. Pastor Myers will be so thrilled that we've decided to stop living in sin."

They shared a brief laugh and C.C. soon returned to her paper. Lelouch, unnoticed by his fiancée, got up and moved over to her side of the table. She looked up only when she felt him take her hand in his. Her gaze followed his arm and she found him to be kneeling in front of her, in all his regal glory, with his head dipped slightly. When their eyes met, he spoke her name with as much love as he held for her and asked her, in the proper way, to marry him.

End.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Boredom plus my own continued interest has prompted me to write a follow up to the first chapter of this story

Author's note: Boredom plus my own continued interest has prompted me to write a follow up to the first chapter of this story. I don't know if there will or will not be any further chapters added. This just came to me one day.

Summary: Another day in the immortal lives of C.C. and Lelouch.

* * *

C.C. released an annoyed sigh. For days now Lelouch would spend hours crawling around every nook and cranny, every crevice, every closet and crawlspace of their home. _Their _home, not his, but hers as well. She did not appreciate his frantic rearranging of the sofa cushions or the towels in the hall closet.

She in her chair and observed Lelouch searching beneath the couch a few feet away with a flash light for the seventh time since this fool's errand began. In front of her was a small table that displayed the source of his vexation: an incomplete chess set.

She sighed louder this time, vainly attempting to catch his attention. He either ignored her or didn't hear her. Either way, frustration had gotten the best of her. "Oh husband of mine, when will you give up this pointless endeavor?" She addressed him calmly, in a soothing voice, fiercely trying to mask her growing outrage.

"When I have found that pawn." He stated without glancing in her direction.

"Lelouch," she continued, "it's been five days. I have watched you calmly and methodically search all rational locations for that piece. I have watched you check even the most unlikely of places, such as the refrigerator, the closet, our bed room, and, I still can't figure this out, the fire place."

"Nothing simply disappears, C.C. The black pawn is somewhere or something happened to it. I checked the fire place because I wanted to see if it had met it's unfortunate end there. As for the other locations, well as they say 'when you've eliminated the impossible…'"

"I see. Sound reasoning. But, haven't you already eliminated the area underneath the couch? Do you doubt your own ability to perceive reality? Oh, my poor husband, it seems not even immortality can spare you from the grip of senility." She finished unable to hide the sarcasm in her words any longer. The entire situation was laughable, really.

Lelouch was not amused. Days of this search was taxing his patience. "Instead of sitting there, mocking me, why don't you help me?" He almost demanded it.

"Just because a pawn is missing it doesn't mean the set is broken forever. Use something else, like a coin or something."

"That would be tacky."

"That's a weak excuse. Very well, why not just buy another board?"

Lelouch finally turned to face her and gave her a look as if she had suddenly lost her mind. "C.C., there are 31 other pieces to that board that are accounted for. I cannot simply throw them all out because of _one _pawn!"

This was going no where. "Fine, continue your pointless search. I am going to occupy myself with something… productive."

When she had left the room, C.C. cursed herself for that word. _Productive,_ as if anything they spent there time on mattered. Time was meaningless now, after all, so anything that was important because of the stress of time was significantly less important. They had once joked with each other in the privacy of their bedroom that they could build an entire city, complete with roads and public buildings, and still have enough time to watch it burn and be rebuilt.

She remembered fondly sharing a laugh with him over the joke, years ago. It seemed as if the mere hours in which his now fevered search had consumed him were longer. Again, she sighed at his foolishness. Would that incomplete board matter in a few days time?

Lelouch, in the meanwhile, had given up searching beneath the couch but chose to simply remain with his head and arms underneath it. Silently he was kicking himself for the way he had just spoken with C.C. Absently, he picked up a small coin just a few inches from his face.

Standing up and straightening his clothes, he returned to the chess set and eyed the square directly in front of the queen's rook. The absence of the pawn threw off the whole balance of the board. _Use something else, like a coin or something._

Filling the void with the currency, Lelouch slowly walked around the small table. It just didn't look right. Eight pawns on the white side, standing proud and in a uniform line. To the opposite of them, a mere seven pawns and one lowly coin, the imbalance was staggering. In real life, the black king's forces would be a joke, a mismatched assembly of men that just didn't fit well together.

He slowly moved his finger a few centimeters over the tops of the black pawns, going all the way down the row until he reached the coin, and bitterly lowered his finger, as if showing distaste for the difference in height. No, this simply wouldn't do!

C.C. lounged lazily in their shared study. The winter months didn't allow her the opportunity to busy herself with yard work, and not accounting for her husband's sudden urge to rearrange the house, everything was cleaned. One good thing that came of it, she supposed, was that Lelouch had decided to make the best of his searching by dusting the areas in which he was searching.

It wasn't fair. He had something to do while she was stuck doing nothing. She reasoned that if he could busy himself doing something pointless, then she could do just the same. She made her way to the closet in the room and withdrew their never used painting supplies. Lelouch had bought them for her one day out of the blue.

"_You used to paint, remember?" He said happily, urging her to hold the easel and canvas._

"_Yes, yes I _used_ to paint. Not anymore, you know that and you know why." She was very put off by this gesture of affection. She enjoyed their level of intimacy with each other, the fact that their mutual curse, their Codes, allowed them to share their memories with each other. Yet this was one of those unfortunate consequences. He knew she used to paint, knew why she stopped, and still he lacked the reasoning skills to understand why painting supplies were an inappropriate gift._

"_C.C., it used to make you so happy. You don't have to worry about what happened-"_

"_Stop it, Lelouch. You don't know what it feels like. Don't you dare assume for even a moment that simply because you remember it that you were there. I experienced the pain first hand, _boy_," she emphasized the insult, "and I would appreciate it if you didn't bring it up. They stormed the abbey, burnt it and my paintings to the ground, before they burned me."_

_They stood in reverent silence for several moments before he spoke again. "C.C., I know that I do not realize how painful it could have been to experience it first hand." He began carefully, as if stepping over a minefield. "But I know why the memory pains you. All of you work, all of your beautiful paintings, gone in a senseless act of hate and fear. What you seem to have forgotten however," he boldly dared, "is how happy you were while making them. So here, I want you have these, because they brought you joy once before, and can do so again."_

_C.C. rolled her eyes and still kept her offended expression. "Fine. I'll never understand this foolish obsession you have with going out of the way to make me happy. I'm happy spending time with you. Well, maybe not right now, but on any other occasion…"_

"_It's selfishness really."_

"_You're saying I'm selfish?"_

"No, I am. My desire to please you, it's for me more than you."

"Oh?"

"_Of course. Seeing you happy, it makes me happy. I'm just incredibly greedy and self centered, actually."_

"_Lelouch, stop trying to be funny." Try as she could, she couldn't stop the smile from creeping into her words._

She regarded the supplies before her with disdain. _Such a horrible gift. _Briefly, she contemplated throwing the blasted things away. It's not like he did anything extra in order to procure them anyway. They were more then likely bought with money he had won from gambling. Then again, so was much everything else they had.

It wasn't as if neither of them lacked any employable skills. She was a skilled tailor and he knew his way well around a kitchen. In truth, they were just too lazy to hold a job unless the need to keep their cover demanded it. So, more often than not, the money they needed came from Lelouch's favorite pastimes, gambling and chess.

_Chess. _Wasn't that why she was mad at him? _We don't entertain company that often. That game board just sits there gathering dust. Who would care if one little pawn was missing?_

_That little pawn is driving me crazy! Where could it be?_ Not thinking what he was doing, Lelouch had moved to the kitchen and started moving the canned foods out of the shelves in a desperate attempt to search new areas of the house. He didn't know which he was looking for now, the pawn itself or new places that he hadn't looked for it in. Maybe both.

All the while, his small fight with C.C. weighed heavily in the back of his mind. _She's right, _he reasoned_, I'm behaving ridiculously._ _These yams expired three years ago. After all, there is no reason I simply can't go out and buy another board. Hmm, have we always had this many cans of green beans? I'm taking this whole thing far too seriously; one piece is not really that big of a deal. And really, it's not like we have anyone over often enough that it would be an embarrassment. Ah, this can of tomato sauce is still good, she will be very-_

_Is that it? _Lelouch's eyes lit up in excitement as he examined the area in the self more closely. _Damn, I thought I had found the pawn, but it was just a trick of the light! Where are you?_

In truth, C.C. didn't consider herself angry right now. Lelouch had simply found a new project to spend some time on. Sense time was now essentially a meaningless word to the both of them, they could waste however much of it they wanted. Often they would read. Their library was a constant source of problems for the both of them.

The collection of books never stopped growing, and they never stopped moving. One benefit, she supposed, was that Lelouch finally developed some muscle from carrying the vast amount of books from place to place. It also helped that he was gradually becoming more confident about showing his face in public. After all, Lelouch vi Britannia died ages ago, and was nothing more than a foot note in most children's textbooks.

Who would recognize him?

C.C. was, however, upset at the pointlessness of his new 'hobby'. He just hadn't given up on finding that piece, and it consumed him. Neither of them got much sleep last night as he kept stirring and asking her if he could leave the bed to search for it. She, of course, denied him permission on the grounds that his body was essential for her to get in a good night's sleep.

Again she regarded the painting supplies in front of her. His _gift_, meant to make her happy. As she turned the brush over in her hand, she wondered what would make her happiest right then.

She started to paint.

Lelouch had returned to the sitting room and sat in front of the chess board. He leaned over it with his hands folded beneath his chin and eyed it carefully. To anyone who observed the scene, it looked as if he was planning a brilliant and intricate strategy. Of course, not a single piece had been moved.

He suddenly sighed and began collecting the pieces. "C.C. was right; it is much simpler to just buy another board." He said to no one. "It's not like I ever use this one anyway."

Having solved his own little crisis, he now reluctantly resigned himself to the crisis that had been looming over him all day. When he had last seen C.C., she was very frustrated with him. This was dangerous water, considering that neither of them could die. She had once casually joked that any domestic disturbances that they had could easily be fatal without either of them being guilty of attempted murder.

It was a joke, they had laughed at the time, the way she had said it was funny. Of course, the part of him that knew there was some truth to her words always remembered that statement. Fortunately, something such as throwing him down a flight of stairs or dropping a dresser on top of his head was completely out of character for C.C., she was more adept at using her words to harm him whenever they rarely had a fight.

Lelouch began to search the house again, this time for his misplaced wife. _Huh, I can't remember what we fought about last was._ Lelouch attempted to recall any information from former arguments that might help him. _It was half a century ago. Oh, yeah, she was upset with me for ordering too much or too little of something on a pizza. _

Finally, he came upon her in the study. She was sitting very casually in a chair observing the easel he had bought her years ago. The canvas was facing away from him, so he couldn't see. Not that it mattered, she never painted on the thing anyway. "C.C., forgive me, I've been unfair to you these past few days."

She looked up from the canvas in front her noticing him there for the first time. She smile at him. "Forgive you, why? Did you do something wrong?"

Lelouch bit his lower lip. "I haven't been giving you your fair share of attention. I've been paying more attention to that blasted pawn than you. You were right before, I'm just going to go into town tomorrow and see about purchasing a new one."

"You don't have to apologize. I know it was bothering you that a piece was missing, you were only doing what made you happy."

"You make me happy, C.C."

"I know I do." She gave him a warm look.

He then noticed the splotches of red paint on her hands. "You've been painting?" He asked curiously.

"Yes I have. It makes me happy when I paint."

Lelouch took this as meaning that she was incredibly angry with him before. "C.C., I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"-Why are you apologizing? Again? I should be thanking you, you know. You were right."

"I was?" How could he have been right? He almost ignored her for five straight days! In truth, it wasn't much time to either of them, but the facts were facts.

"About my painting. I used to be so happy when I painted." She closed her eyes and smiled to herself as she remembered. "I forgot just how happy it made me. Thank you, Lelouch."

"What did you paint?" He asked curiously.

"What would make me happy, of course."

"May I see it?"

"It's for you, so I don't know why you wouldn't get to see it." She teased.

Lelouch walked over to her side and gazed at his wife's picture. It wasn't of a beautiful landscape or a portrait of them together. It was-

"A black pawn? This would make you happy?"

"It would make you happy, wouldn't it? You were missing a pawn, so I made you one." Lelouch was certain that if the smile on her face got any bigger, she would break something.

"C.C., why?" It was the only thing he could ask. Was this some sort of elaborate trap designed to make him feel further guilt? He couldn't say he didn't deserve it, but this was completely unlike his wife.

"Why do you need to ask? The truth is its selfishness, really."

"Okay, I get it. C.C., I was behaving foolishly these past few days. I promise that if there is anyway I can make it up to you, I will. We can spend as much time together as you'd like, we-"

"What are you going on about now?" She asked sarcastically. She knew full well why he was saying this; her words were meant to be misinterpreted. "I'm talking about why I painted a pawn."

"Come again?"

"I did it for me, not you. Having your pawn would make you happy. Seeing you happy, it makes me happy. I'm just incredibly greedy and self centered, actually."

Lelouch couldn't help the grin that came across his face.

Several weeks later…

They were both in their sitting room, sitting in front of the new chess board. Well, to be accurate, Lelouch was sitting in front of the board. C.C. had moved her easel and canvas to the sitting room on the side opposite of Lelouch and was sitting before it with the game board to her right.

They had been sitting like this for hours, the last move either of them made on the board seemed to have been ages ago. Lelouch was still staring intently at the board.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh husband of mine, when will you give up? This is a stalemate."

He said her true name, "…patience. This game is not over yet. What are you painting?" He asked trying to deny the reality of the situation.

"Patience, I'm not done painting yet." She teased.

* * *

A/N: So, again, I'm not sure if this will be ongoing or not. I had originally planned for this to be a one shot piece without a sequel or any additional chapters. Now I don't know if it'll remain as it is or if I'll get a flash of inspiration one day and add another chapter.

Anyway, I hope you all liked it. If not, that's cool too I suppose. I'm sorry that you were disappointed and I hope you find something that you enjoy reading instead.


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